A Metro police officer was critically injured when he was struck by a car early Saturday morning on Murfreesboro Pike in Donelson.

Police spokesperson Don Aaron said the incident happened around 5:30 a.m. in the 1700 block of Murfreesboro Pike, just east of Donelson Pike and the Nashville airport, while the officer was assisting on the scene of an earlier wreck.

The officer, Brent Hoadley, was rushed to Vanderbilt University Medical Center in critical condition.

In a news conference at 11:30 a.m., Trauma Surgeon John Morris said Hoadley has been stabilized.

Hoadley endured fractures in his face and ribs, but “things were moving in the right direction,” according to Dr. Morris.

The officer is surrounded by family, friends and fellow officers at Vanderbilt, where Dr. Morris expects him to remain for about a week.

The initial crash occurred in the outbound lanes of Murfreesboro Pike after a car collided with a broken down van.

Hoadley was directing traffic around the collision and was hit by an inbound Toyota driven by Gameel Atealla Mesad.

Aaron said Mesad, 47, is of Egyptian descent and speaks very limited English.

An over-the-phone line interpreter had to be used at the scene in order to conduct an interview. Mesad told investigators he suffers from a blood sugar condition and wasn't clear what happened.

Aaron explained, “The driver has indicated to us that he had a blood sugar issue, did not know what had occurred, [but] reported suddenly seeing the officer in the street.”

Aaron called the impact between Hoadley and the Toyota “quite significant.” The windshield of the vehicle was broken and the hood dented.

According to Aaron, there were at least two police cars on the scene in addition to an ambulance and a fire truck when Hoadley was struck. It appears Mesad failed to move from the left inbound lane to the right inbound lane as other drivers had.

“When the Toyota came through, he did not move over and continued toward town,” Aaron explained. “There was a report by one witness that Officer Hoadley tried to flag or motion the guy to slow down, it appears he did not and continued on and struck Officer Hoadley.”

Aaron said Mesad does have a valid driver's license and has been in the U.S. for several years.

Officer Hoadley is 31-years-old and is a six-year veteran of the Metro Nashville Police Department.

He was in uniform and wearing a florescent traffic vest when he was struck.

Aaron said the investigation is ongoing although charges against Mesad had not been placed at the time of Saturday morning's news conference.